Synonyms of competence
6 similar words · 3 opposite words
Another word for competence is competency. Other synonyms of competence are aptitude, ability and savoir-faire. The opposite of competence is incompetence.
Synonyms and similar words for competence
nounMore synonyms
- abilityA skill or competence in doing; mental power; talent; aptitude.
- competencyThe ability to perform some task; competence.
- nous
- savoir-faireThe ability to do or say what is appropriate for the occasion.
- knack colloquial
- aptitudeA natural ability to acquire knowledge or skill.
Opposite of competence
nounMore antonyms
- inability
- ineptitude
- incompetenceAn inability to perform; a lack of competence; ineptitude.
Meaning of competence
- noun The quality or state of being competent, i.e. able or suitable for a general role.
- noun The quality or state of being able or suitable for a particular task; the quality or state of being competent for a particular task or skill.
- noun The system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native speakers of a language, as opposed to its actual use in concrete situations (performance), cf. linguistic competence.
competence in other languages
Questions about synonyms of competence
- What is another word for competence?
- Competence has 6 synonyms on Word.ws, such as competency, aptitude, ability and savoir-faire.
- What is the opposite of competence?
- The opposite of competence is incompetence.
- What does competence mean?
- Competence means the quality or state of being competent, i.e. able or suitable for a general role.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: competence (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Synonyms of competence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/competence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.